Jack Koskie, painter, printmaker, teacher and graphic designer, was born in Hull, Yorkshire in 1914. At the age of sixteen he embarked upon his first sea voyage in an Iceland-bound trawler; the sea later proved to be an important theme in this artist’s oeuvre. In around 1930, while Koskie was a student at the Hull College of the Arts, he was awarded a scholarship to study art in Rotterdam and Paris. In the next stage of his travels, Koskie emigrated to Australia in 1939 where he continued his artistic training at East Sydney Tech and later at Hobart Tech.
During the Second World War, Koskie served in the Merchant Navy and then with the Australian Army Engineers as a camouflage designer. Upon his discharge, he travelled around Australia with “brush and pen” in hand, exploring his adopted homeland and studying the scenery it had to offer. In what was to be a rich and varied career, Koskie first settled in Sydney and worked as a publisher’s designer and illustrator for many of Australia’s leading publications such as Invisible Press, The Sydney Morning Herald, Women’s Weekly, as well as the Commonwealth Office of Education in Sydney and Tasmanian Government Printer. Later moving to Tasmania, he served as the Head of the Department of Graphic Design and Print Making at the Hobart Technical College. This was followed by his position as lecturer in Printmaking at the Gordon Institute of Technology, Geelong, his tenure of office as the senior art master at Mount Scopus College near Melbourne, Victoria, and his time as Lecturer in Printmaking at Deakin University, where he finished his teaching career in 1979.
Whilst serving in the various teaching positions just mentioned, Koskie had continued his own artistic practice in painting (oils and watercolours) and printmaking (for example lithography). A key work in his career was the illustrated publication Ships that Shaped Australia (Sydney: A & R, 1987). The result of years of extensive research, this book contained images of ships, painted by Koskie that had played a key role in the history of Australia. With an eye for detail and historical accuracy, Koskie attempted to ascertain the weather on the day a ship entered the harbour for the first time, including wind direction. In some cases, such as Kangaroo Point in Brisbane, the artist visited the harbour in question to capture the light and landscape for his scenery. Koskie received a range of commissions owing to his unique knowledge as a marine specialist, including the Story of Ships for the NSW Department of Education; Golden Fleece, Captain Cook Centenary Calendar; illustrated shipping features for The Sydney Morning Herald and Reveille, R.S.L. magazine; and a painting for the Geelong Historical Society’s Matthew Flinders celebrations.
Throughout his career, Koskie, exhibited with several major art societies, including the Victorian Artists Society and the Art Society of Tasmania. He further participated in a wide range of group exhibitions including the Lord Mayors Art Prize (Melbourne), ACTA Marine Paintings Prize and the St Kilda Arts Festival. His first solo show was held at Coombe Down Galleries in Newtown Victoria in 1971, where he exhibited landscape paintings of Geelong and nearby locations, as well as scenes from his time in New South Wales and Tasmania. A comprehensive retrospective showcase of his work was held at Sandridge Gallery, Port Melbourne in October 1998.
Furthermore, Koskie received several awards during his career including the Ben Uri Art Prize (1963), Cato Art Prize for his oil painting Figure at the Pier (1970), Carlyon Graham Art Prize for his painting Low Tide Queenscliff (1969), Roland Prize (1970), Applied Chemical Prize (1975) and the Lord Mayors Art Prize, (Melbourne City Council) (1980). Adding to his accomplishments, Koskie was a member of the Journalist Club of New South Wales, the Victorian Artist Society and he was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (London).
Following a unique and diverse artistic career in Australia, Jack Koskie passed away in 1997.
The art of Jack Koskie is represented in several prominent public Australian collections including the Australian War Memorial, Canberra; Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart; Government House, Hobart and Broken Hill Art Gallery, as well as private collections in the UK, USA and Australia.
- Writers:
- Staff Writer
ecwubben
- Date written:
- 1996
- Last updated:
- 2012
